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Posted December 2, 2006 07:46 am

Wilkowskis propel Saints to win over Bible Baptist

Growing up together has obviously paid off for Rose and Mary Wilkowski. Like mind readers, one always seemed to know where the other was against Bible Baptist on Friday night during the first round of the St. Andrew's Academy Tip-Off tournament.

Mary, a senior with the Saints, led all scorers with 17 points, while little sister Rose, a junior, added 13 in St. Andrew's 53-31 win over the Braves.

"The passing, the ballhandling, the way they see the floor, the way they see their teammates, it not only makes them top-notch players, it makes everybody on the court that much better," Saints coach Michael Bennet said. "It's unbelievable how talented they are, and the way they work together, it's fun to watch."

The Wilkowskis got the fun started early for the Saints. The two combined for 17 first-quarter points as St. Andrew's jumped out to a commanding lead, thanks to an 18-4 run to open the game, keyed by both Mary and Rose.

Bible Baptist had a difficult time containing them, but considering the relative inexperience of the Braves, Friday night proved to be a learning experience for the seventh- and eighth-graders coach Melissa Hubbard started.

One of the biggest things they might have learned was to not allow a team like St. Andrew's to jump out early. The closest the Braves ever got to the Saints' lead was two points, and that was at the minute mark.

"When we play teams, we like to get up early," Bennet said. "It's nice getting out of the gate real fast. That's paramount to the way we play."

Along with scoring early and often, St. Andrew's was helped by Bible Baptist's 25 turnovers in the game. Most of those turnovers were forced by the Saints, but the lack of experience became evident as the Braves were called for traveling, stepped out of bounds or lost control of the ball a handful of times.

The lessons weren't all bad, however, for Bible Baptist. The fourth quarter saw seventh-grader Angel Martinez get comfortable from the point guard position as she stole several passes and finished with seven points.

Eighth-grader Taylor Helm played a big role on defense, grabbing seven rebounds and recording a block while also scoring seven. Freshman guard Kimberly Crapse led the Braves with 11 points and 13 rebounds, 10 of which came during the first half.

"She's got a lot of potential and she's still getting better," Hubbard said of Crapse. "Hopefully, as the season goes along she's just going to continue to improve."

Rose Wilkowski finished the game with 10 rebounds and four steals, and Mary Wilkowski had six rebounds, two steals and recorded a block. Emily Kahn was also big defensively for the Saints as she finished with six rebounds and four steals.